The Mitchell Stickhandler Major Mosquito OBA Astros dropped an 18-9 decision to Listowel on July 15 in the finals of the Kincardine tournament after going undefeated in round robin and semi-final action.

Starter Keegan Priestap gave up two earned runs on four hits in the top of the first, but the Astros would knot the score in the bottom half with two unearned runs. Listowel went quiet in the top of the second, and the locals would briefly take the lead in the bottom half on a double by Ryan Hubbard and RBI base hit from Priestap. The teams would trade runs back and forth for two more innings, reaching a 6-6 tie after the fourth, and then things started to unravel. A combination of four hits, three walks, an error, and a hit batsman resulted in a 10-run inning for Listowel to allow them to cruise to an 18-9 final. Mitchell did not go quietly in the last inning, as Ben Medhurst hit a one-out double, scoring on Hubbard’s RBI triple. Joel Meinen would then knock in Hubbard with a base hit, but it was not enough.

Mitchell opened tournament play against Kitchener, perhaps underestimating their opponent and giving up four runs in the top half of the first. The Astros would immediately answer back as leadoff batter Carson Harmer opened with a double, scoring on Jordan Visneskie’s two-out single. Jack Miller would drive in Visneskie with a double, scoring himself on a wild pitch. Astro pitching and defense would settle down after that, only giving up one more run the remainder of the game en route to a 12-5 win. Harmer and Dominic Marshall would reach base in all three at-bats, each scoring two runs. Priestap would record the win in relief of starter Marshall.

The locals faced an overwhelmed Owen Sound select team in their second game, exploding for a 19-1 mercy win. Scoring three runs each were Dawson White, Cody Bach, Harmer and Russwurm. Russwurm would go almost the distance on the mound before reaching the pitch count limit and yielding to Meinen to finish the last two batters.

Mitchell would face eventual tournament winner Listowel in the third round robin game, displaying strong bats and excellent defense in an 11-4 victory. Catcher Russwurm would pick a runner off at third base, and Bach ran down a deep hit to centre field, relaying to Miller to gun the runner out at the plate. Harmer again led the offense, reaching base in all four at-bats with walks and scoring twice. Visneskie brought the power, hitting two doubles and a triple while Bach also stroked an RBI triple. Starter Visneskie once again kept the powerful Listowel bats in check, with Medhurst and Hubbard both coming in to finish in relief.

An undefeated record sent Mitchell into the semi-finals against Vaughn, with Harmer earning the start on the mound. Perhaps still half asleep, the locals found themselves down 7-2 after two innings, but clawed back to tie the game in the bottom of the third with a five-run outburst. Hubbard reached on an error to open the inning, and Mitchell started a two-out rally with Harmer’s RBI hit. With the next three batters aboard to load the bases, Visneskie delivered the big blow with a bases-clearing triple to bring the score to 7-7. The Astros took the lead in the fourth on Charlie Geiger’s triple in the gap, scoring as Bach would reach base on an error. Vaughn would once again tie the game in the top of the sixth but Bach would be the hero in the last inning, delivering the game-winning hit to drive in Miller who had reached on a one-out double.

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The D.L. Hannon Minor Mosquito OBA’s competed in the Mitchell July 6-8, dropping all three games.

In their first game, the team couldn’t get on the bats and lost 15-5 to Kincardine. Mitchell started the game strong, scoring four runs in the first inning with Charlie Wolfe, Evan Janssen, Zack Siemon-Hergott and Jonah Gibbings each taking a bases loaded walk. The team was unable to cross the plate again until the fourth inning when Olen Hopf took a bases loaded walk, bringing around Brayden Hoegy to tie the game at 5-5. Starting pitcher Ryan Klumper maxed out his pitch count throwing three full innings, followed by reliever Wolfe and Janssen in the loss.

Despite strong pitching from Elijah Bender, Jonah Gibbings and Max Hannon in their next game, the team struggled as St. Marys handed the locals a 23-7 defeat. A rally in the bottom of the third saw Klumper crush a three-run home run to the fence in the five-run inning for the Astros. Ethan Jarmuth added an RBI single.

A challenging match-up against Tillsonburg concluded round-robin play. Wolfe struck out three in the top of the first inning, while a lead-off triple from Jarmuth and an RBI single from Logan Verberne saw the Astros ahead by one run in the bottom of the first. A triple from Klumper set the stage for an RBI from Wolfe in the bottom of the fourth, cashing in the team’s second run, and seeing the Astros close the gap to within four heading into the top of the fifth. Unfortunately, there was little chance of recovery for the Astros on their last at bat, resulting in the team’s third loss of the tournament.

Meanwhile, in WOBA action, the D.L. Hannon Minor Mosquitos came away with a 20-3 win at home to Exeter Red on July 9. Starter Hopf got to work early and set the tone on the mound allowing just three runs and striking out four over two innings of work, while Brayden Pennings pitched the bottom half of the game, allowing no runs and maintaining Mitchell’s comfortable lead at the plate. Each player fired up the bats producing hits, securing Mitchell’s seventh straight league win.